The present invention relates generally to therapeutic uses of interferon and more specifically to treatment of mammals, including humans, with isolates of interferon glycoprotein derived from cells of heterologous mammalian species origin.
"Interferon" is a term generically comprehending a group of vertebrate glycoproteins which are known to exert broad spectrum biological activity--including antiviral, antiproliferative and immunomodulatory activites--in the species of animal from which the substances are derived.
Since the first descriptions of interferon by Isaacs and Lindeman [See, Proc. Roy. Soc. London (Ser. B), Vol. 147, pp. 258 et seq. (1957) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,699,222], the material has been the subject of intensive research on a world-wide basis. Publications abound concerning the synthesis of interferon, its proposed molecular characterization, its clinical applications, and proposed mechanisms of its antitumor, antiviral, and immune system activities. See, generally, such review articles and collections as: DeMaeyer, et al., "Interferons" appearing as Chapter 5 in Comparative Virology, Vol. 15, pp. 205-284, Plenum Press, N.Y., N.Y. (1979); Cantrell, "Why Is Interferon Not In Clinical Use Today" appearing in Interferon 1979, I. Gresser, ed., Vol. 1, pp. 1-28, Academic Press, London (1979); Stewart, "The Interferon System" Springer-Verlag, N.Y., N.Y. (1979); and Dunnick, et al., "Clinical Trials with Exogenous Interferon", J. Infect. Diseases, 139, No. 1, pp. 109-123 (1979).
Owing to the disparate origins of the research contributing to the sum of the knowledge in the art concerning interferon, its characteristics and its uses, there exists a substantial lack of uniformity in such matters as classification of interferon types. There are also numerous, sometimes contradictory, theories concerning the mode of action of interferon in producing clinical effects. The following brief summary is believed to provide a fair analysis of background information such as needed for understanding the present invention.